Public Domain
City Without Men
1943 · Columbia Pictures · Dir. Sidney Salkow
A young woman's husband has been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. In order to be near him to try to help him get his sentence overturned, she moves into a boardinghouse near the prison whose residents are the wives of inmates.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Under the 1909 Copyright Act, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the Us Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection. 'City Without Men' was originally registered for copyright by Columbia Pictures Corp. on January 14, 1943 (Registration Number LP11855). For this copyright to remain valid, a renewal should have been filed in 1970 or 1971.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no record of a renewal for this title. Because of this failure to renew, the film entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its initial 28-year term at the end of 1971. The film is widely recognized as public domain in film scholarship and is frequently included in public domain collections from distributors such as Alpha Video and Mill Creek Entertainment.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series (1943), p. 102
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (no results found for 'City Without Men')
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1940-1949), Vol 3.
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films: City Without Men (1943)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.